‘It’s not available’: AFL-owned Marvel Stadium not an option as AFLW grand final sells out in less than a day

The AFL says Marvel Stadium is unavailable for Sunday’s AFLW grand final, leaving Ikon Park to host the sellout clash between North Melbourne and the Brisbane Lions.

The league has confirmed that 13,000 tickets for the showpiece event at Carlton’s home venue were snapped up within a day of going on sale.

Sold out: The Kangaroos will play before a capacity crowd at Ikon Park on Sunday.

“Tickets for the 2023 NAB AFLW grand final between the North Melbourne Tasmanian Kangaroos and Brisbane Lions are sold out,” the AFL said.

“Should further tickets become available, they will be released at 12pm AEDT Friday, December 1 via Ticketmaster.”

While there will be an electric atmosphere at Ikon Park, which also hosted the 2018 grand final, when the Western Bulldogs defeated the Lions, Marvel Stadium, owned by the AFL, would have ensured a larger attendance.

Ikon Park previously had a capacity in the 20,000s but the capacity has been reduced because of ongoing redevelopments.

However, a league spokeswoman said on Tuesday that all potential AFLW grand final venues had been agreed upon by clubs on the eve of the season.

Marvel Stadium has also recently held concerts, including Motley Crue and Def Leppard, and last weekend the World Supercross Australian grand prix, leaving the venue unavailable.

“It’s had multiple concerts and motocross. It’s not available,” the spokeswoman said.

The Kangaroos are gunning for their maiden AFLW premiership, and have a strong following.

This is the first AFLW grand final in Melbourne since the ’18 play-off. The next three deciders were played at the Adelaide Oval, while Melbourne defeated the Lions at Brighton Homes Arena in Brisbane last year.

The AFL came under fire last year when the Lions’ training base had to be used for the grand final when the Gabba and Metricon Stadium on the Gold Coast were unavailable. Springfield held only 8000 people.

The 2019 decider, between Adelaide and Carlton, was attended by a whopping 53,034 people at Adelaide Oval.

Brisbane will fly to Melbourne on Friday afternoon. Key forward Dakota Davidson has been cleared of a serious knee injury and hopes to play on Sunday.

Davidson hobbled from Brighton Homes Arena in Saturday night’s preliminary final win over Geelong, her hopes of a grand-final berth appearing dashed. However, scans have cleared the 24-year-old of any major ligament damage.

The match will start at 2.30pm AEDT.

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